Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1893 — The Roby Investigation. [ARTICLE]

The Roby Investigation.

Chicago Dispatch. Tuesday .was a busy day for the officials of the Indiana Racing association, as the committee appointed by the Indiana legislature to visit the Roby track put in an unexpected appearance during the early morning, and had they picked a day in which to witness real winter racing they could hardly have made a better selection, as the mercury had dropped below the zero mark, while a keen and bitter north wind swept across the' prairies. The committee consisted of M. N. Johnson, of Marion county, as chairman; W. W. McManon, of Fulton county, and M. R. Sulzer, of Jefferson county, Jerome Dinwiddie, the member from Lake, and Senator Hobson, of Park, accompanying them as invited guests. The early morning was spent in an inspection of the stables, and the lawmakers were greatly surprised when shown such noted turf performers as Guido, Lorenzo, Hercules and Tobe Bell, the last named being David Waldo’s American Derby candidate for this year. They had no idea, evidently, that such high-class performers were on

the ground. The stable accommodations were a revelation to them, and Chairman Johnson did not hesitate to say that the horses were better cared for, as a rule, than were the family horses owned anywhere in the state. The saddling paddock and weighing room were also visited and the methods of doing business there were explained. The afternoon was given up to questioning the management and the horsemen regarding the racing and the care of the horses, with an evident view of ascertaining whether or not the racing was on the level, whether other gambling games other than bookmaking and poolselling were allowed on the grounds and whether or not winter racing was cruelty to animals. Among those questioned were John Condon, the track’s manager; Tom O’Hara, owner and trainer; George W. Poole, David Waldo and J. G. Reynolds. The testimony of the horsemen was all to one effect, viz: that racing horses in the winter did not hurt them, that on the contrary it did them good, while at the same time it opened up a larger market for breeders of racing stock and prevented the market from being glutted. The poolselling and bookmaking came in for a large share of attention from the visiting solons, and Representative Sulzor managed to pick soveral winners during the afternoon. The examination of the track manager brought

out the fact that several notable improvements had been planned in the vicinity of the track, and that the building of a large summer hotel and several handsome pavilions on the lake front had been contemplated; also a pier where boats could land all through the summer months. Representative Sulzer said bo* fore taking his departure for Indianapolis: “The track and the management have been badly misrepresented by the press of the state, and as a result public opinion has been worked up to a high pitch against it. We had been told that games of all kinds were in full h«>re and that it was frequented by only the worst classes. We found nothing of the sort, but, on the contrary, a well-managed race track, while the crowd was one that would compare favorably with any to be seen at other public places of amusement. It will be hard to make people see things that way, however, lam afraid.”

WINTER RESOBTS OF THE SOUTH. Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla., and other South Atlantic and Gulf* coast resorts can be reached with but one obange of cars from Chicago and that at Louisville or Cincinnati, wnere the Monon makes close connection the L. & N. and Q. and C. “Vestibule trains, running through to Florida. The Monon’s day trains are now all equipped with beautiful new Parlor and Dining cars, while Ps night trains are made up of Smoking Cars, Day Coaches, and Pullman and Compartment Sltepers, lighted by electricity from headlight to hindermost sleeper. The Monon has gradually fought its way to the front, making extensive improvements in its roadbed service, until tosday it is the bist equipped line from Chicago to the South, offering its patrons facilities and accommodations second to none the world, and at rates lqwer than ever before.